


Let It Snow

by lizandletdie



Series: All I Want [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Snowed In
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 18:51:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12918060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizandletdie/pseuds/lizandletdie
Summary: It's one year after All I Want For Christmas Is You and everything is settled...more or less. Neal is moving back to Storybrooke to be closer to his new-found son and Theo Gold has some plans about making his long distance girlfriend a little less long distance. But a blizzard throws a wrench in all their best laid plans when Emma, Henry, Neal, Belle, and Theo are all trapped in a house together over Christmas eve. With a puppy. Feelings are going to come out (good and bad) and nothing is ever the same for any of them.





	1. Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful

**Author's Note:**

> No regrets. Also I'm taking prompts.

It was going to be an amazing Christmas for Theo Gold. His son was moving back to town to be closer to his son and starting a new job in January. In the meantime, Neal would be spending the holiday staying with Theo and Theo was thrilled to get to spend the time with his son and grandson. He was also thrilled that joining them for the holiday would be his long distance girlfriend (and Neal’s friend), Sabella French. They had been dating (first casually, then not so casually) long distance for a year now and he had high hopes for maybe doing something about that on this trip. Belle was wonderful, but long distance was terrible.

He had to force himself not to watch at the window waiting for Neal and Belle to arrive like a child, but he did a pretty good job of keeping himself in the kitchen or the living room and out of the front rooms where he could drive himself insane with waiting. Finally, he heard the sound of a car pulling up in the drive and he was on his feet before he could even think about it. Neal didn’t bother knocking, and so when Theo got to the foyer Belle and Neal were already standing there and dusting snow off of their coats and boots.

“Hey,” Belle said the moment she saw him and Theo’s heart was in his throat and he couldn’t remember how to make words for a second and all he could do was smile until she dashed over and stood on tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips.

“How was your trip?” he finally said to both of them, although Neal was straightening his coat on the hook and studiously _not_ looking at either of the other two people in the room by then.

“It was really good,” Belle said. “The flight was dull, but I think that’s about the best you can hope for.”

“That’s true, I don’t know that anyone has had a good flight that wasn’t first class on a high end airline since the sixties or seventies.”

“Either way, we’re here now,” she said. “So that’s the important part.”

Belle stepped back and started pulling her coat off to hang in with the others near the door, and Theo snapped himself out of his mood to help her pull it off. She was wearing a thick pair of tights under a grey wool skirt and a yellow sweater and Theo couldn’t help but flash back to the first time he’d ever seen her the year before when she’d been pretending to be Neal’s terrible girlfriend. It was funny now, but at the time…

“Have you heard anything from Henry or Emma?” Neal asked, interrupting his father’s thoughts.

“I did,” Theo replied. “Emma called while you were in the air. She’s planning to bring Henry by before dinner so he can spend the night.”

“Awesome. So I’m going to have to run back out in a little bit and get his surprise.”

“I’m still not completely sure that’s a good idea, Neal,” Belle said. “You didn’t really talk about it with Emma at all.”

“If it stays at my house, what difference does it make?”

Belle cast a quick look over her shoulder at Theo and he could only shrug. When Neal set his mind to something, there was rarely any talking him out of it. They were all just going to have to cross their fingers and hang on for the ride.

 

 

Neal didn’t want to think about what his dad and Belle were getting up to all by themselves in the house, but the snow was starting to get heavy and he really wanted to make sure that he got Henry’s present safely hidden in his dad’s house before Henry showed up. The present – a nine month old lab mix from the local shelter – was currently sitting in the backseat of the rental car and stretching excitedly to try to see out all the windows and smell all the things at the same time. This was a good choice.

Ideally, he knew he should be getting the dog after his place was ready to move into but he couldn’t help it. This was his first Christmas where he actually had a chance to _plan_ to do something for his kid and he had to do it right. His job didn’t start until January anyway, he could dedicate a lot of time to taking care of the dog before they all got settled. This was going to be perfect because it _had_ to be. Which was maybe a bit too much pressure to put on a dog, but Neal couldn’t think about that too much. He just had to hope it was all going to go to plan.

He didn’t go looking for Belle and his father when he got back because he was sure if they weren’t around then he didn’t want to know where they were, but turns out they were both just sitting on the sofa watching a black and white version of A Christmas Carol quietly. Belle had her feet in his dad’s lap and he had his arm resting on her legs, but other than that it was a perfectly normal thing and not weird at all.

The dog at least didn’t seem to care, bounding into the living room at top speed and leaping onto the sofa (and Belle’s lap) with all his weight. Belle yelped in surprise, but then the puppy was licking her face eagerly and she was laughing. He was all legs at that age, not really a fuzzy baby but very much an eager adolescent and it was hard not to find his antic lovable. At least that’s what Neal was hoping for, anyway.

“Neal!” Belle shrieked as soon as she managed to push the puppy far enough off of her that she could sit up and pet him. “I think you lost something.”

“Aw, he’s just saying hello,” Neal replied teasingly, dropping into one of the chairs and patting his lap until the puppy leapt off of Belle and climbed into his lap. “I thought you liked dogs.”

She shot him a look but didn’t say anything, instead turning back to his father and prodding him with her toes.

“You were _no_ help,” she said.

“You seemed to have everything under control to me,” he replied with a grin to Neal. “Besides, you do like dogs.”

“Oh no, no ganging up on me!” she said. “I can’t do anything to Neal, but I can certainly get _you_ back.”

“Fair point, I promise I’ll rescue you if Henry tries to lick your face when he gets here.”

Belle made an exasperated noise and got up.

“I’m going to go wash my face,” she said to both of them. “And then I’m going to plan my revenge. Don’t think either one of you is safe.”

“I think you’re in trouble,” Neal said to his dad, even though Belle hadn’t actually been angry.

“I think we both are,” his dad replied. “The dog is probably too cute to be mad at.”

“Yeah?” Neal said, scratching the dog’s ears and head. “Are you too cute to be mad at, buddy?”

The puppy didn’t say anything, just wagged his tail and quivered in excitement. Which, to be honest, was enough of an answer for that particular question. This was going to be a really interesting week one way or the other. And it wasn’t like it would be the first time Belle ever played a prank on him, he’d live.

 

 

Belle was never going to get sick of snow. She’d been an adult before she’d seen it the first time and it was still fascinating to her, even if it was coming down pretty hard now. Belle was watching from Theo’s fabulous library with a mug of tea and a book and it was perfect. Neal and Theo didn’t seem really nervous, though, and they both had a lot more experience with blizzards than she did so she’d trust them. Still, it was a _lot_ of snow – Neal had taken the puppy out to pee before Henry arrived and she hadn’t been able to see more than the dog’s head as he jumped up and down through the snowbanks.

Neal and Theo had a brief argument about putting the dog in the basement before Henry arrived so he could be a surprise, but Neal ended up winning and the puppy was put downstairs with a bed, toys, and food and water. It was just for the night, but Belle was reasonably certain it was going to end with the basement absolutely destroyed. She didn’t know what the puppy was mixed with, but her best friend had a labrador when she was growing up and Belle distinctly remembered a time period where everything that wasn’t bolted down had to be hidden behind a locked door because of how bad the chewing was. At least it wasn’t any of _her_ stuff that was going to get eaten.

Not five minutes after the dog was safely subdued in the basement, Belle heard the sound of tire tracks in the driveway that meant Emma and Henry were here. She’d met Emma a few times since last Christmas, but it was hard to get past the whole “Lacey” thing with her. It was hard to get past that with the whole town, actually. She got it, it was weird. It was a really strange thing to have done, and she should probably regret it but she couldn’t. Even aside from meeting Theo, getting to be Lacey had woken up a whole side of Belle’s personality that she’d never known was there. So, she’d push through it if it killed her.

Emma and Henry were in the foyer when Belle came down the stairs and Henry waved to her as soon as he saw her.

“Hi Belle,” he said and she felt just a little relieved. Somehow Henry had gotten into his head to call her _Grandma Belle_ for a couple months until she’d finally convinced him that he really did not have to do that. She was pretty sure it had been at least sort of Neal’s idea, so it was just one more thing she was going to have to prank him over later.

“Hey Henry, Emma” Belle said, taking in the rapidly melting snow on both of their coats and hair. “Wow, is the snow really coming down that bad now?”

“Yeah,” Emma replied. “I wasn’t entirely sure the roads were going to be clear all the way out here.”

“Dad!” Henry shouted, running to hug Neal as soon as he’d appeared from someplace (most likely the basement).

“You should stay to warm up,” Belle said to Emma. “Come on, I’ll get you a drink.”

“Oh, no, don’t worry about it,” Emma replied. “I don’t want to get snowed in.”

“If the snow is _that_ heavy then it’s probably not safe for you to drive out,” Theo said from behind Belle, causing her to jump just a little bit. She hadn’t even realized he’d been upstairs _or_ that he’d followed her down.

Emma looked around a little awkwardly like she was looking for an excuse to leave, except right at that moment the lights flickered once, twice, and then with a whine everything in the house went dark and silent. Belle didn’t know much about snow, but she knew a lot about power outages and if a line was down there was no telling when it would be brought back up. This could end up being very, very bad.

 

 

“Yeah, it’s a downed tree,” Neal said almost apologetically like he’d had anything to do with it. “The road is blocked off going back into town and it took down some of the lines. I don’t think anyone’s going anywhere today.”

Emma couldn’t help but groan at the news. It’s pretty much what they’d expected to happen and why he’d gone out for a walk to figure out what was going on rather than anyone risking a car trip. The snow was still coming down, and it was still dark inside and all up and down the street.

“They even lost power in town,” Emma said. “My parents called and said they’re out, too.”

“You should stay the night,” Mr. Gold said from where he was feeding logs into a fire in the living room. “Neal’s right, the last time this happened it was three days before the city was able to get anyone out to repair the lines this far up and we have plenty of room and food.”

Emma glanced over to Henry where he was sitting quietly on the sofa with Mr. Gold’s girlfriend who had buried herself under a blanket.

“I don’t want to impose,” she said at last. “I’m sure you guys had plans.”

“Nothing that we can’t add another person to,” Mr. Gold said with a shrug.

Emma glanced at Neal who looked just as uncomfortable about everything as she was. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Neal or his family, but they’d _dated_ and then...Henry. They were just sort of making do right now and she knew that she’d really messed up but she really didn’t know how to fix that. Staying the night for Neal’s Christmas with Henry (even if it was technically only going to be Christmas Eve) was just a whole lot of being a family and she didn’t know if they were really _there_. Which, she was completely aware was absolutely ridiculous because they had a kid. For Henry’s sake, they had to be a family. She was being a complete jackass about this.

“Sure,” she said at last. “My place doesn’t have a fireplace anyway.”

“We’ll have to build a fire upstairs in the library, too,” Belle said from her place on the sofa. “It’s got some couches and we have blankets, and it’s a lot better than dealing with the cold and that way you and Henry can have some privacy if you want. Or Neal can sleep up there and you two can sleep down here.”

“What about you guys?” Emma asked as she joined Belle and Henry on the couch. The fire was already kicking in and it did feel really nice.

“There’s another fireplace in the master suite,” Belle said with a little grin and a glance too Mr. Gold. Right. They were sleeping together. Or dating. Or something. That was still a weird situation all around. Emma still couldn’t quite get over having walked in on Neal proposing to this girl with Henry, although Henry didn’t seem to care so that was...something.

“It’ll be like a sleepover, Mom,” Henry said.

“Yeah, it’ll be just like a sleepover,” she replied with a glance at Neal she couldn’t quite help. He was in the kitchen doing something she couldn’t see, but “sleepover” was something she and Neal actually had done before on one memorable occasion. It was prom night, she’d said she was staying with one friend, he’d said he was staying with another, and they’d gotten a room in a hotel just outside of town. She was sure their parents must have had some idea of what was going on, but for some reason everyone had just let them get away with it. And for the life of her, she still couldn’t understand why.


	2. But the Fire Is So Delightful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A whole lot of things are coming to a head.

It was starting to get cold in the kitchen. It was going to be cold pretty much anywhere in the house that didn’t have a fireplace, though. The old Victorian house wasn’t the best insulated one and the windows just let any heat out. They’d shut the heavy curtains on most of the windows in the house to trap the warm air, but the kitchen didn’t have any drapes so it was hard to keep it warm. Neal was a little worried about the puppy, but the basement had been very warm when he’d put it down there and there weren’t any windows to let the heat out, either. He’d go check in a little bit once he had Henry settled in with cocoa which they were making with water from a solid copper pot they’d put near the fire until it heated up enough to use. So, Neal had retreated to the kitchen with Henry to create the ‘ultimate’ hot cocoa, which mostly so far ws a lot of chocolate syrup, crushed up candy canes, and some cinnamon.

Henry was taking this pretty seriously, carefully measuring everything out into five cups and dosing each generously with whipped cream.

“So you think this will be good?” Neal asked even though he was sure it didn’t matter. His dad would enjoy it no matter what, Emma likely knew how to handle it, and Belle just wasn’t built for cold weather in general and would probably just be happy it was warm (even though Neal was fairly sure that it was psychosomatic because it wasn’t even cold in the living room). 

“I think so,” Henry said authoritatively. “It’s all good stuff.”

The kid had a point, and Neal wasn’t about to argue about it. It was just nice to spend the time with Henry. He picked up three mugs leaving the other two for Henry to carry into the living room himself. Which was when he glanced at the basement door and realized there was a large hole chewed out of it and no dog on the other side. He should have known better and he actually _did_ know better, he’d just been hoping really hard. Which then left the question of where the hell was the dog?

“Hey kid,” Neal said to Henry as he set the mugs on the coffee table. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

Henry nodded and the other adults didn’t really seem to pay much attention to it, which was fine. He could leave his dad finding out about the door just a little bit longer. Aside from the cost of replacing it, there was going to be the inevitable _I told you so_ that he could live without. The dog had to be somewhere in the house still because they hadn’t opened any of the doors since he’d gotten back from his walk. The dog didn’t seem to be anywhere in the downstairs, which just left the one – incredibly destructive – option. The puppy who could apparently chew through a door in an afternoon had to be upstairs with all of their stuff. His dad and Belle were going to kill him.

 

Belle was not overly happy with her current situation. She’d never been snowed in before, never mind trapped in a blizzard with no power. She would have thought that the city would be better prepared for this kind of thing, but apparently the work crews couldn’t safely work on the lines while there was precipitation still falling and snowplows couldn’t go out until the lines were up. She’d pretty much accepted this was happening and staked out a blanket and a spot on the sofa, but mostly she was snuggling with Theo and sipping Henry’s overly sweet cocoa and sulking.

She liked Emma and Henry for the most part, but the plan had really been that Neal and Henry would be focused on each other and Emma wouldn’t be here, which would leave Belle free for the romantic Christmas she’d planned. She specifically skipped out on her family for the second year in a row just to spend time with Theo and now she wasn’t really sure that she’d get that. She’d been looking forward to some alone time for awhile, and it was looking increasingly like she wouldn’t really get it.

They were talking about getting down a board game and trying to figure out what Theo had, but Belle couldn’t care less. She was warm and comfortable and starting to get a little drowsy from both. There probably wasn’t going to be a much better way to spend the afternoon than with her head on Theo’s shoulder anyway. She was just about dozing off when she heard Neal shouting something and then felt something heavy land on her _again_. Her eyes flew open and she saw Neal’s dog spinning around excitedly in her lap with his tail wagging excitedly. He was trying to say hello to everyone in the living room and then he turned around and – _oh, hell._ The dog must have gotten upstairs somehow because he had a piece of black and red lace that she recognized as having come out of her suitcase.

“Oh, damn,” she said, grabbing for the dog only to have him leap away excitedly at this new game. “Neal! Come help me get your dog!”

“Is that your dog, Dad?” Henry asked, looking expectantly at Neal as Belle tried to get close enough to the puppy to pry his mouth open.

“He’s actually yours,” Neal said with a shrug. “Merry Christmas.”

“What’s his name?” Henry asked.

“Whatever you want, kid?”

“You got him a _dog?_ ” Emma said.

“He’ll stay at my house,” Neal replied.

Emma looked like she was about to say something else, but then Belle grabbed the dog’s collar and Neal quickly took it and held the puppy between his legs and Emma looked like she’d given up. Belle didn’t really care about this either way, she just wanted to get the panties out of the puppy’s mouth before anyone else saw them. She pried the dog’s jaws open carefully and extracted the panties before shoving them in her pocket and turning back to Neal.

“How did he get upstairs?” she asked as calmly as she could. “I thought you’d put him in the basement.”

“He...got out.”

“How did he get out?”

Neal was looking back and forth between Belle and his father and Belle was starting to see where this was going, but wasn’t about to let him off this easily. Fortunately, Henry took the opportunity to hop to his feet and run to the hall where the basement door was.

“There’s a hole in the door!” the boy called out and then everyone was looking at Neal and as well as Belle knew him, she could see he was starting to realize nobody was happy about this stunt.

“Look, how was I supposed to know he could do that?”

Belle looked from Neal to Theo who looked completely shocked and decided it was best if she bowed out of this conversation for now.

“I’m going to go see what else he destroyed,” she said, stalking off towards the stairs. Let them fight it out on their own, she was going to make Neal pay for anything that was damaged.

 

Theo honestly had no idea what to even do after Belle stalked upstairs. Henry was petting the dog excitedly, Emma looked completely shocked at her son’s new companion and Neal obviously knew that everyone was angry with him and was almost aggressively ignoring all the adults in favor of Henry and the puppy. Theo finally walked into the hall just to see what damage the dog had done for lack of anything better to do. Sure enough, the door to the basement had a good size chunk taken out of it where the dog had chewed through the corner and squeezed out. He was actually a little impressed with the tenacity, to be honest. He was also _very_ glad this dog would be living with Neal, because nothing was going to be safe until he grew out of the teething stage. _If_ he ever did, anyway. But that would be Neal’s problem within a week, so now Theo’s problem was just going to be getting through Christmas with everyone trapped in the house with a dog who apparently thought Belle’s lingerie was a fun new toy.

“Hey Henry,” Emma said as Theo returned to the living room. “Why don’t you take the dog outside and play for a little bit? I think he might need some exercise after being in the basement.”

“Sure,” Henry said, turning to his father. “Does he have any toys?”

“Check the basement,” Theo said for Neal, prompting Henry to run off to retrieve whatever Neal had left down there to amuse the dog with. As soon as Henry reappeared with a green tennis ball the puppy instantly went on alert and followed Henry out the back door to the fenced in backyard with the intensity of a cruise missile.

“You got him a _puppy_?” Emma said accusingly as soon as the door had shut all the way. “Seriously?”

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Neal replied. “The dog is going to live at my house, it’s not a big deal.”

“Oh really? You don’t think Henry is _ever_ going to want to bring _his_ dog to my house with him?”

“That’s not my problem,” he said. “He’s my kid, too, and I get to make the decisions at my house!”

“That’s not the point! The point is that we’re supposed to run these kinds of things by each other!”

“Just like you ran the fact we had a kid past me?” Neal replied sharply enough that even Theo was taken back. He had a point – an _extremely_ good one – but it was still awful to witness. They had so far done a pretty good job keeping things civil, and Theo had privately been impressed by how well they’d been handling things. This outburst wasn’t entirely unexpected but it was still shocking.

“I’m going to go check on Henry,” Emma said angrily. She stood up and slammed the door on her way out to the backyard. Neal spun around and headed for the front door just as Belle was coming down the stairs.

“Neal, your dog –”

“I cannot deal with you right now, Belle,” Neal said before she could finish. He brushed past her on the way to the second floor and Theo saw her eyes go wide in shock before they narrowed again. Theo hadn’t ever actually seen her really _angry_ before and the look on her face as she turned and chased Neal back up the stairs made him never want to see it again.

Part of Theo wanted to go upstairs and make sure nobody got murdered, but then again he thought that they probably needed to deal with this themselves. And he had a pile of wood chips in his hall that he should take care of.

 

Belle was livid. Neal was being an asshole, and she wasn’t about to take it. He’d been acting weird since they arrived and was being inconsiderate as hell and she was just _so_ sick of it. If they were going to be trapped in this house together, he was going to have to calm the hell down.

“What is wrong with you?” she shouted as she followed him up the steps to the landing.

“What’s wrong with _me_?” he yelled back. “What’s wrong with _you_? You’re acting like a teenager.”

“And you’re acting like a jackass, so we’re even!”

Neal stopped in the hall and spun around to face her. She wasn’t about to be intimidated by him, though. He was being a jerk and if she had to deal with it much longer she was going to scream.

“Look, I’ll pay for whatever the dog ate, okay?”

“Oh my God, it’s not about the money! It’s about you being a jerk!”

“Like we’ve even spoken since we got here. You’ve been pretty much glued to my dad since we got here.”

“Yeah, he’s my boyfriend! I came here specifically to see him!”

Neal looked up in exasperation and she was on the verge of smacking him when another thought came to her.

“So what difference does it make to you, anyway?” she asked. “You’ve got your own stuff going on and a dog you _should_ have been taking care of and instead you’ve been doing nothing!”

“That’s not your problem!”

“Well it _wasn’t_ my problem until you made it my problem!”

“Holy crap,” he said. “I totally get it now – you sound _exactly_ like my mom.”

He turned and walked into one of the guest bedrooms but she was not about to let him say that to her. She slammed her hand into the door before he could close it and followed.

“I’m _not_ your mother,” she said as calmly as she could. “And if you’ve got a problem with me dating your dad then tell me right now because I’m not going to deal with this forever!”

“Oh, _forever_? So you’re getting married now or what?”

“What – I don’t know! Why would you even ask me that?”

“It’s just _weird_ , okay? This is weird, you’re weird, and I’ve had it up to here –” he gestured towards his chin “ – with you two being all over each other, okay?”

Belle couldn’t decide what to say to that. She should have known he was feeling awkward about all of this but she wasn’t about to let that change anything about her relationship with Theo. This had been a long time coming one way or the other, but it was going to suck regardless.

“I don’t know what you want,” she said at last. “I’m not breaking up with your dad just because it makes you uncomfortable.”

“No, I mean...I don’t know. This is just weird, okay? I’m sorry, but it is.”

“That sucks,” she replied for lack of anything else to say and that finally got a laugh from him.

“Yeah, yeah it does suck. I can’t make it stop feeling weird, though.”

“And I wish I could make it stop being weird for you. But I don’t think I know how.”

“That’s not really your problem,” he said. “Anyway, I’m sorry about everything with the dog.”

“Don’t worry about it, he mostly ate your stuff.”


	3. It Doesn't Show Signs of Stopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things settle down.

Emma was still annoyed at Neal when he came back downstairs with Belle, but she’d calmed down a lot. The dog was really sweet, and Henry was having a good time with it. It was time to swallow her pride and make this work for everyone’s sake. Neal and Belle both looked a lot calmer, so hopefully the rest of the night would go fairly smoothly. Everyone was quiet, but the air in the room didn’t feel so thick with discomfort anymore.

“So what’s for dinner?” Henry asked before Belle and Neal even had time to sit. Emma looked over at Mr. Gold who looked startled as though he hadn’t quite figured all that out.

“I’ll cook,” Belle said quickly, even though she sounded strangely tired. Emma watched as Belle brushed past her into the kitchen before she realized the other woman’s plan: she didn’t really want to face Neal or Mr. Gold yet.

“I’ll help you,” Emma said as Belle passed, realizing she also didn’t really want to deal with them if she could help it.

Belle was going through the freezer when Emma got to the kitchen.

“Anything good?” she asked.

“Not so much,” Belle replied, pulling a few things out. “I know I should leave the door closed but it’s cold enough outside we can put things in the snow to keep them from spoiling.”

“We did that last time the power went out,” Emma said. “God, that must have been ten – no, twelve – years ago now.”

“So this isn’t something regular?”

“Not really. I mean, it does snow. It just doesn’t do it like this.”

“That’s good to know,” Belle replied as she tossed something from the refrigerator onto her pile of foods. “Do we have anything to go with hot dogs, you think?”

Emma went to the pantry and started poking through it.

“There’s popcorn in one of those foil pans and bread?”

“That’s probably good enough.”

Emma turned around and saw Belle going to another cabinet and start taking down liquor bottles.

“Any preferences?” she asked, looking at Emma over her shoulder.

“Anything that goes with cocoa?”

Belle nodded and took another bottle down. Somehow, it was a relief that there would be drinking tonight. Something to hopefully ease some of the awkwardness that had swallowed them all up.

“So are you thinking of moving up here?” Emma asked as nonchalantly as she could. “I mean, you two have been dating for like a year now, right?”

“I don’t know yet,” Belle replied. “We’ve talked about it but never seriously. Never for real.”

She didn’t know what to say about that. Emma had obviously done some dating in the ten years since she’d had Henry, but she’d never really done the long distance thing. Still, it seemed like that was a conversation that should have come up by now. Emma found a tea tray with the cutting boards and started putting the dinner things Belle had taken out on it.

“We’ll figure it out,” Belle continued, though it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than Emma. “I wonder if we have any fruit. I can make sangria to go with the hot dogs and popcorn.”

“I think that’s probably the best idea I’ve heard all night,” Emma said. “Are there skewers, do you think?”

“In with the cutlery,” Belle replied, gesturing towards a drawer as she dug through the pantry herself searching for fruit. “Honestly, it is going well, all things considered. You know how things started, I don’t want to rush. I know what people already think.”

“Don’t think about those people,” Emma said, feeling defensive of Belle for some reason. “It’s a small town and most of them haven’t ever left it. The only thing they can do to amuse themselves is gossip, and a new person is just an opportunity for new stories.”

“No, I know. And honestly it was all very strange. I wish I hadn’t gone along with all of that last year, but I did and now I have to live with it.”

“Still, you can’t let them get into your head.”

“I don’t. I know that I’m not that girl, and someday so will they. Or they won’t change their minds, but either way...I’m glad I did what I did. Even if it was a bad idea, it made a big change for me.” Emma glanced over and saw Belle had turned to face her with apples and oranges clutched to her chest. “I made a choice and if I hadn’t done it, who knows where I’d be right now?”

Strangely, Emma could understand that. She’d been an unwed teenage mother, but she’d gotten Henry. How could she regret any of that?

 

The room felt a lot lighter once Emma came back with a tray of hot dogs and assorted other things that could be prepared on the fire, but Belle’s appearance with a pitcher of sangria in one hand and a bottle of scotch in the other perked the whole room back up. Henry was enjoying cooking in the fire while Neal assisted, and everyone else settled back on the sofa with their glasses. Belle wasn’t leaning against him like she had been, but she was still sitting close and that was good enough for now. 

Emma was curled up in one of the arm chairs nursing a glass of Belle’s sangria, and it occurred to Theo that she probably needed a night like this more than she’d let on. It was quiet and easy, and even the puppy had been worn out and cold from playing outside and retreated to a spot next to the sofa where he was curled up and snoring.

“Hey mom?” Henry said as he pulled a skewered hot dog back from the fire. “Can I have a drink?”

Emma froze and looked over at Neal who was looking at her. Both of them glanced around the room, but Theo didn’t particularly care one way or the other and Belle was pretty thoroughly absorbed with trying to fish a piece of apple out of her glass. Finally, Neal just shrugged and Emma nodded.

“Sure,” she said. “You can have a little bit.”

Emma poured probably about a fourth of a glass of sangria and offered it to Henry who took a tentative sip before his lips pursed.

“I thought it would be sweeter,” he said.

“Yeah, it’s an acquired taste,” Emma replied. “You don’t have to finish it.”

“No, it’s okay. I like it.”

The room went quiet again as people were eating and drinking, but this time Neal broke the silence.

“So you two never told me how the wedding went,” he said to Theo and Belle. “Did anything exciting happen?”

Belle looked over to Theo and smiled knowingly, and he couldn’t help but return it. It had been a whirlwind week. Between jet-lag and wedding festivities he wasn’t sure he’d slept more than a few hours total while they’d been there.

“Not really,” Belle finally said. “My dad was shocked enough by the built in grandchild being my age that we uh, didn’t really need to do a whole lot to get some family disapproval.”

Which, of course, didn’t mean that they hadn’t done __anything__ to earn the family disapproval. Specifically, they’d skipped out early from the reception and spent the rest of the day on a rented boat drifting around the pacific in sight of the shore “whale watching.” It wasn’t really cold enough to justify swimming, but they’d had sex on every flat surface on the boat and in a few positions he’d personally never tried before. It had been the best vacation he’d ever been on, and he was looking for an excuse to bring her on another one.

“It was a nice excuse for a vacation,” Theo added, trying hard not to punctuate it with a wink at Belle. “I could use another one.”

 

His dad had board games. Somehow, Neal hadn’t really thought there’d be any of those leftover from when he was a kid but there they all were. He had a brief twinge of discomfort at how Belle seemed to know exactly where they were and what was there – and the relatively new copies of Pictionary and Scrabble. That just meant that he hadn’t gotten drunk enough yet, and he could fix that.

They ended up playing Life, which Henry won handily. Neal wasn’t sure if everyone was letting him win or if they’d all just gotten too drunk to put much thought into it, but it was fun. Life was followed by Candy Land, which Henry was too old for but somehow Belle still managed to eke out a victory just around the time Henry started yawning.

“Time for bed,” Emma said, looking almost as tired as Henry herself.

“I’m not tired though,” Henry protested. “Can’t I stay up?”

“The puppy’s tired,” Neal said with a nod towards the dog who was dozing lightly but restlessly. “And there’s a fire in the library for both you guys.”

“We’ll do more stuff tomorrow,” Emma continued for him. “It’ll be Christmas eve, so we can do Christmas stuff.”

Henry finally nodded and called the dog as he walked to the stairs. The puppy (who really needed a name) followed him with his tail wagging slowly. The adults were all silent until they heard the door to the library close, and then it was as though the veil dropped. Belle – who had been doing a pretty good job keeping her hands to herself – was suddenly leaning against his dad with her knees folded up to her chest and a blanket over her knees. Neal couldn’t even be upset about it, though. He was just as tired in just the same way. If someone in the room would let him rest with his head on their lap he’d probably go with it.

“What should we do now?” he asked the room.

“We can do truth or dare,” Belle said with a little grin. “It’s easy as a drinking game. You can either answer do your truth or dare or take a shot.”

“I’m not sure I’m drunk enough for this,” Emma muttered.

“It’s a easy fix,” Belle replied, leaning forward and pouring a shot of whiskey into a glass she slid toward Emma. “Just don’t answer any questions to start with.”

 

Emma hummed as she looked around the room and Theo only hoped she didn’t choose him. He’d had enough to drink for the next little bit, and as she’d gotten drunker and loosened up Emma had become absolutely ruthless in her questions and he was sure that he didn’t want to answer another one.

“Belle!” Emma exclaimed at last, causing Neal to visibly relax. “Truth or dare?”

Belle was, if anything, drunker than Emma and when she drank she tended to lose all inhibitions. This evening could only get more interesting.

“Truth,” Belle replied and Theo could see the wheels in Emma’s head turning as she planned her next move. Belle was sitting smugly and sipping her drink as though she wasn’t even worried about what was coming.

“What is the kinkiest thing you’ve ever done?” Emma sat back in her chair like she’d scored a point, but Belle was swaying a little bit and had a giant smile on her face.

“So one time I was...dating this guy,” she said coyly. “And we were at his place and one thing led to another. He had this really elaborate headboard…” Theo already knew where this story was going and the memory was definitely a pleasant one – and from the look on her face when she shot him a glance said she enjoyed it, too. “Anyway, I ended up on top of him and handcuffed him to the bed. Then I blindfolded him with his tie, and –”

“Oh __God__ ,” Neal exclaimed. “This is about my dad, isn’t it?”

Belle giggled and Theo felt his cheeks flame, but he forgot all about his embarrassment when Belle collapsed against him happily and kissed him. She snuggled into his chest drowsily and he put an arm around her. Neal wasn’t making eye contact anymore, but it wasn’t worth thinking about too hard right now.

“Truth or dare, Theo?” Belle said from where she was still squished into him.

“Dare,” he replied even though he was sure it was going to be a bad idea. She perked up at that and pulled away, looking devious and beautiful at the same time.

“Draw kitty whiskers on your face,” she said sweetly and he was sure he had to have misheard her.

“What?”

“Get my eyeliner out of my purse and draw a cat face.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’m _dead_ serious,” she said with a smile. “I want to see what you look like with a kitty face.”

“You are _so_ lucky that you’re cute,” he said finally, pulling himself up off the sofa.


	4. And Since We've No Place To Go

They’d somehow stopped playing Truth or Dare at some point during the night, though Belle couldn’t remember exactly when. At some point a question about a most embarrassing memory had turned into a one-up competition with everyone interjecting stupid stories and weird dating experiences.

“I can top that,” Emma said after Neal had finished a story about getting dumped by two girls he didn’t know he was dating in the same week. Belle actually remembered when that happened, and it had been just as funny then as it was now although he didn’t quite agree at the time since a girl he’d kissed once had slapped him in the middle of a party after catching him making out with another girl who promptly called him some names and stormed off.

“Oh yeah?” Neal retorted. “Prove it.”

“This one time, my ex invited me to a party and when he picked me up his ‘ex’ was in the front seat.”

“That is pretty bad,” Neal agreed.

“I once got broken up with at the start of a six hour flight,” Theo volunteered. He still had the kitty whiskers on his face and Belle just wanted to kiss him every time she saw him because of them.

“Was that Mom or Cora?” Neal asked.

“That was Cora. Your mother didn’t actually tell me she was leaving me until she was already in Jakarta.”

“Oh yeah,” Neal said, looking thoughtful all of a sudden. “That’s right. I don’t know why I thought you were supposed to go with her.”

They both got uncomfortably quiet, and Belle just wanted to break the ice again. They were all having so much fun.

“One time I asked my boyfriend if he thought I should cut my hair and he said he’d love me no matter what,” Belle said to the room. “But then after I did it he wouldn’t have sex with me for two weeks and then broke up with me because he said I looked like a boy.”

Neal already knew that story, but Emma snorted around her drink and Theo was clearly trying to suppress a smile.

“Aw, sweetheart,” he said as sympathetically as she thought he could probably manage. “I’m sure you were beautiful.”

“It’s not all bad,” she replied. “My next boyfriend after that broke up with me because he was gay and then those two hooked up and last I heard they had an apartment and a cat.”

“Sounds like a happy ending all around,” Emma said to her glass. She was completely hammered and frankly, they all were.

“I think that’s probably enough for me for the night, I’m gonna go to bed,” Belle said, trying to stand up as well as she could, although it ended with Theo having to put his hands on her ass and push her up. “You are welcome to join me whenever you’re ready,” she said to her boyfriend.

She was barely half-way up the stairs when she heard him make his excuses and start to follow her. They were probably too drunk for anything super fun, but they were at least finally going to be alone.

 

Belle was hypnotic as she tried to strip down and crawl into bed. She was drunk and giggling as she tried to wriggle out of her tights before halfway collapsing on the bed.

“Did you bring anything to change into?” he asked as he tried (only somewhat successfully) to get all of his shirt buttons undone.

“Lots of things,” she said, propping herself up on her elbows. “All kinds of things you’re gonna want to see me in.”

As much as he _definitely_ knew he wanted to see her in whatever was in her suitcase, that hadn’t been what he meant.

“Did you bring anything warm? The power’s still out.”

She groaned, obviously having forgotten they weren’t just using firelight for fun for at least a few minutes.

“You know I don’t pack practical things when I’m here,” she said at last, sounding somewhere between indignant and teasing. He’d finally gotten his shirt off and luckily pants were the easy part thanks to gravity, but her tights seemed to have defeated her and she wasn’t even trying anymore.

“Get up,” he said as gently as he could. “I’ll lend you something to wear. Can’t have you freezing in bed.”

She whined wordlessly to register her indignation, but let him pull her sweater off over her head before starting back in on her tights again. She finally managed to get them off by the time he’d made it to his dresser and found a set of navy blue flannel pajamas which he tossed on the bed for her and a darker red set for himself. It was a little disappointing to miss whatever shockingly tacky lingerie she’d decided to pick up for this trip, but any time spent with Belle was always a pleasure.

By the time they were finally both dressed and in bed, it was all Theo could do to kiss her goodnight before they both fell asleep. As much as he’d been looking forward to the more adult activities they’d planned for this trip, just being with Belle was really more than he could have asked for. And she _was_ here, wrapped in his arms and sleeping drunkenly on his chest. They’d had a really good night, and there was no reason at all not to think they wouldn’t have a good day the next day.

It was going to be a perfect Christmas.

 

Emma wasn’t sure if she could look at Neal right now. It had been fun when everyone had been together and joking and talking about everything, but now that it was just the two of them things had suddenly gotten serious. She wasn’t sure how to handle that for some reason, either. The air was too thick to breathe all of a sudden.

“So how’d it go after you got to the party?” Neal asked, though when she looked at him he wasn’t looking at her.

“Not great. We pulled up out front, she went inside and then he suggested a threesome and I got a bus and went home.”

“Yikes. He sounds like a real winner.”

“Well, there have been a few false starts. You know how it goes.”

“Yeah, I once got dumped by a girl because they got her order wrong at a restaurant.”

“ _What_? How’d that even happen?”

“It was nuts,” he said with a little chuckle. “I went up to order and when I got to the table she said it was the wrong thing, so I asked if she wanted me to get it fixed and she said she’d eat it. So after a few minutes I realized she wasn’t actually eating it, so I offered to swap food or order something else and she said it was fine _again_. And then a few minutes later she stormed out and texted that it was over. I still have no idea what it was all about.”

Emma couldn’t stop herself from giggling, but he was already laughing which just made her laugh even harder. He always did have a great sense of humor and he was so good at laughing at himself. It was why she’d liked him.

“Truth or dare?” she asked him at last, unsure how to make the conversation work without the game anymore.

“Truth,” he said. “I don’t trust your dares.”

“Why’d you leave town so soon after graduation?”

“I had to leave for college,” he replied easily. “And you know things were getting tense with my dad by then.”

“Yeah, but you stayed away. Everyone else would come back for holidays and summer. You stayed gone.”

“You left, too.”

“I had to. There aren’t really a lot of job opportunities around here and my aunt was willing to watch Henry while I went to school.”

“Like you said, there’s not a lot of opportunity around here. I guess I just spent my entire life up until eighteen counting the seconds until I could get the hell out of this town and then once I did I just...didn’t want to come back.”

“And now you’re living here?”

“Well, now I have something to live here for.”

Neal felt like something had shifted in the room and he wasn’t sure what. The whole conversation had him tied up in knots and maybe it was the alcohol, but everything felt _odd_. The air was crackling and not from the fire still smoldering in the fireplace. God, he was going to need to bring it back up. The plan had been for him to sleep on the sofa while Emma spent the night with Henry in the library, and while it was plenty warm as long as the fire was going, the warm air would only last until the embers died out.

He swayed a little as he stood and tossed another log from the pile onto the fire before giving it a good poke. Hopefully there was enough wood on the porch to get them through however long the blackout went for. Knowing Belle, though, the place would be down to nothing but shingles and books within three days of trying to keep the fires going. At least that would take some of the pressure off him after the thing with the puppy and the door earlier, though, so there was that.

Some little devil on his shoulder had him flopping onto the floor near Emma’s chair instead of returning to his own seat. He was ridiculously drunk, and that was likely the cause of his mood, but regardless he just needed a change of perspective and laying down on the floor at her feet seemed like a good position to be in for some reason.

“What are you doing?” Emma asked and Neal honestly didn’t have an answer for her.

“I’m really drunk,” he blurted out and immediately regretted it. It was such a stupid line, but then Emma smiled and slipped off her chair to lay on the floor.

He froze. This was...different. Really different. It felt like high school all over again, and it was such a bad idea to even go there but he wasn’t thinking straight and he couldn’t stop himself from laying down on the floor next to her. The rug was surprisingly comfortable, but that was also probably because he was drunk. That was some really strong sangria, but that really shouldn’t have been surprising. He’d known Belle since college, he’d had her sangria before and it had been pretty notorious at her sorority. Maybe he should have warned Emma, but it was too late now. And anyway, this was the best conversation he’d had with Emma since they were eighteen. Maybe they should drink together more often. Maybe he should get his shit under control think about things like an adult.

“This is nice,” she said softly. He looked over and saw her staring at the ceiling. He followed her line of sight to the garlands strung across the ceiling. His dad must have hired someone to do all that. It kind of was nice – it was Christmas-y and relaxing and almost wholesome even though he was on the verge of passing out on his father’s carpet with his ex-girlfriend.

“It is nice,” he said just to say something, but when he looked back at Emma her eyes were closed and she was snoring lightly. He was having trouble keeping his own eyes open, and with her asleep it just didn’t seem worth the effort anymore to try.


	5. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays, thank you all so much for reading all my fanfic for so many years!

Belle was sure someday she’d come visit Theo and not be hungover at least once, but so far she hadn’t managed it. She felt like someone was going to need to scrape her off the mattress with a spatula to get her out of there. It wasn’t helping that the bed was warm and the fire had died down during the night and the rest of the room was nowhere near as cozy as she was. She buried her face in the pillows, and tried to shut out the rest of the world just that little bit longer.

She felt Theo moving next to her and then his hand was on her back with his head next to hers and couldn’t resist smiling into the pillows.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said softly. “Sleep well?”

“I didn’t have much choice,” she muttered. “I always forget you buy the nice stuff.”

“Yeah, and I always forget that you mix strong drinks.”

Belle groaned at the reminder and felt him nuzzling her neck and shoulder. It was so comfortable and intimate, all she could do was wish it would last forever. But she had to pee _so_ bad, and she now belatedly realized there’d be no hot water for a shower.

“You need to get a gas water heater,” she said, finally rolling over to cuddle with him. “I’d had high hopes we’d get to shower together today.”

“Temptress.”

“I don’t feel so tempting. I feel gross.”

“Well, you look beautiful.”

“You’re sweet, but I’m so hungover.”

“We’re all hungover,” he replied, pulling away at last and flopping into his pillow. “Hopefully it’s going to be a very quiet morning.”

“If I take a shower, will you get the fire going again?”

“Anything for you, sweetheart.”

She was a lucky girl, even if she was about to take an ice cold shower. At least it would be refreshing and help with the hangover. And she had managed to not throw up, so it was actually a good thing.

“Hey,” she said, rolling over to lurk over him. “Merry Christmas eve.”

“Merry Christmas eve,” he replied.

 

Theo set a bathrobe out for Belle before he started building up the fire. She was going to be extremely cold when she got out and he thought a warm robe might help at least some of the chill. He had the fire banked nicely by the time the water turned off and the little high pitched shrieks stopped coming from the bathroom. He retrieved the fire-warmed robe and met her at the bathroom door with it in his hands. She looked so grateful that it made the whole thing worth it.

“You’re such a good boyfriend,” she said, still shivering just a bit. He didn’t know what to say to that, he never did. No one ever thought he was as special as she seemed to and it was hard to believe it some days. Most days, really. She was like a fairy tale princess, and it beggared belief that she was even _real_ much less _here_.

“Think nothing of it,” he said at last, kissing her forehead. “I think I’ll shower after breakfast, let the room warm up a bit more.”

“That’s probably a good idea. God, what are we even having for breakfast?”

“There should be some eggs, if nothing else. And it’s probably about time to put everything outside anyway.”

“There’s so much to do with a blizzard.”

“You get used to it, I won’t say it happens every year but it happens often enough.”

She smiled and snuggled the robe up around her face. She was such a pretty picture there before the fireplace even if she was freezing.

“I’ll go get breakfast ready,” he said at last because he just wasn’t sure what else to _do_ with her with no power and people in the house. All his plans had required a good deal of intimacy.

“I’ll get dressed and be down in a minute,” she replied with a brilliant smile. “I’ll help you get the food outside.”

He watched her toweling off her hair for a second longer and suddenly he couldn’t stand it anymore. This wasn’t how he’d planned any of this happening, but he’d never loved her more than he did right at that moment with damp hair and a thick robe on. She was perfect in every single way.

“Let’s get married,” he blurted out once he couldn’t hold it in a single moment longer.

“What?” she asked, turning to face him with wide, stunned eyes. “Are you serious?”

“I am. I want to marry you, if you’ll have me.”

Belle clapped her hands over her face and for a split second he was sure she was going to say _no_ and he’d misread everything but then she ran to him and he was only barely able to wrap his arms around her before she’d collided with him hard enough to knock them both to the floor. She kissed him hard, holding his face in her hands and that _had_ to be a yes.

“I didn’t think you were going to ask me,” she said once she finally pulled away. “I can’t believe you asked me.”

“Why wouldn’t I ask, darling? You’re the most perfect woman I’ve ever met. I’d love to spend the rest of my life with you, to be with you until the sun explodes.”

“I don’t know,” she said softly. “I just didn’t think you’d ask. But I’m so happy you did.”

 

Neal woke up to the sound of Henry and the dog parading down the stairs followed by the sound of a door slamming. He couldn't keep himself from groaning at the sensation of consciousness, and even Emma was making an unhappy noise as she pulled away from him. His side felt cold and he realized belatedly that they’d slept pressed against each other. He wasn’t sure if they’d ever spent the night together like that. In high school, it had been mostly the backseats of a car or making out in any semi-private setting they could find. This was weird and different and he didn’t want to have enjoyed it.

“What time is it?” Emma muttered, although Neal had no more way of knowing that than she did.

“I dunno,” he replied. “Early?”

She groaned again and then the door slammed again and Neal heard the puppy scampering across the wood floors. Neal sat up just in time to see Henry rounding the corner into the living room.

“Mom! Dad! It’s Christmas Eve!” he called out excitedly, though he came to a halt as soon as he got to where he could see the two adults. “Why are you two on the floor?”

“We had a few more drinks with your grandpa and Belle last night after you went to bed,” Neal replied, wincing at the sound of his own voice in his head. “I don’t recommend doing that.”

Emma was smiling (or, more accurately, grimacing) and Neal didn’t even have time to figure out what that meant when the puppy was in his lap, circling and curling into him like a little furry shark.

“You got a name for this guy yet?” he asked Henry, who screwed his face up a little, looking at the dog thoughtfully.

“I was thinking _Jack_ ,” Henry said thoughtfully.

“I like Jack,” Emma said.

“It’s a good name,” Neal replied. “It suits him.”

Emma looked like she might say something else but all of a sudden there was a strange humming noise and suddenly the lights all came on.

“The power’s back!” Henry exclaimed happily, running towards the stairs. Neal heard an echo of _grandpa_ as Henry ran to announce the power restoration to everyone upstairs, although Neal was certain that they’d have noticed by now.

“I’m going to go see what we have for breakfast,” Emma said quickly, getting to her feet and rushing out of the living room. Neal couldn’t think for a second. Something was different. There was an emptiness all of a sudden that hadn’t been there before, and it wasn’t just that he was alone it was that they weren’t _there_ anymore. How could he sit there a second longer waiting for the room to not feel so vacant anymore?

 

Emma didn’t even know what the hell she was going to do in the kitchen. it wasn’t her home, she shouldn’t be in here searching around for things to cook. She’d panicked, and she hadn’t really known why. Suddenly there hadn’t been enough air in the room anymore and she’d had to run out. It had all just shifted, and she’d had an intense realization that Neal was her son’s father. It was so stupid because of course she’d known that from the very beginning, but somehow she hadn’t known it until just that very moment. Every intimacy they’d ever shared had flashed back to her and she’d gotten overwhelmed.

Being in the kitchen at least gave her some distance on the awkward feelings, but no more understanding of what the hell she could do with them than she’d had before. It was just too much for her to deal with right now. Not when they were all trapped in this house together like a bad reality show, not when everything was so confusing.

It took her a moment to calm herself, and by the time she’d turned around Neal was standing in the doorway and watching her.

“Jesus, Neal,” she said. “You startled me!”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“No, don’t apologize. It’s fine. I’m just antsy, I guess.”

“Is something wrong?”

How the hell was she supposed to answer that? Nothing was wrong but everything felt wrong – or at least different. Different didn’t necessarily mean wrong, but it just felt strange and new and old all at the same time.

“I’m fine,” she said at last. “Nothing’s really wrong.”

“You just ran out of there pretty fast.”

She shook her head dismissively, because she couldn’t talk about it. It was too much to deal with for the moment. What do you do when you suddenly gain feelings for someone when you thought you’d gotten past those same feelings already?

“It’s nothing,” she said to fill the empty air.

“Emma, how long have I known you?” It was a rhetorical question and she knew it – they’d known each other in some way for almost their entire lives. They’d gone to the same high school, same middle school, same elementary school all the way back to when his family had moved to town in the third grade. They hadn’t been friends, but they’d known each other loosely the way she’d known everyone she went to elementary school with by the time they were in middle school. It was a whole lot of history and a context for all of this that just made it impossible to think about and also to not think about.

“Awhile,” she replied.

“So you know there’s no point in lying to me.”

“It’s not a lie, it’s just not important.” She paused and looked around the kitchen, searching for any other topic of conversation, but there really wasn’t one and maybe it was time to have this particular conversation anyway. “Do you – do you ever think about giving things another go with us?”

“Oh. Well. That’s a big question.”

“So you haven’t?”

“I’m not gonna say that,” he said at last, not looking at her anymore. “It’s just...of course I’ve thought about it. I’ve probably thought about it a million times but I guess I never thought that you had been thinking about it.”

“I um, well, I hadn’t been – until I was. And now I guess I am.”

Neal looked startled, but she couldn’t exactly blame him for that because it wasn’t something that she’d thought she’d be asking him but it all made sense though, didn’t it? And anyway, it was Christmas.

“Are you serious?”

“I really am.”

He looked deflated, like someone had let the air out of him, but then he just smiled and she couldn’t help it anymore. This was all good news, and his arms were around her in an instant, spinning her in his father’s kitchen and it was like high school all over again as she kissed him for the first time in a lifetime – in Henry’s entire life – and there was a newness to the familiarity of it all. Maybe this time could finally be for keeps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is most likely going to be the last fanfic I ever write for Rumbelle. I may finish a couple of my in progress stories, but this will be the last new one. Again, I want to say thank you everyone who's stuck with me these last four or five years. You've all made it worth while.


End file.
